Because of his love for Wallis Simpson, King Edward VIII became the only monarch in British history to voluntarily give up the throne.*
King Edward VIII
Edward was the son of King George V and the grandson of Queen Victoria. He was twenty years old when the First World War began, and he immediately joined up. Although the government conspired to keep him out of danger, Edward did his best to get as near to the front lines as often as possible, a fact that made him immensely popular in Britain. In 1936 King George V died, and Edward assumed the throne.His reign would last less than one year.
Wallis Simpson
Wallis Simpson was an American woman married to a British businessman when she met Edward in the early 1930. The two quickly struck up a relationship that led to Wallis' (second) divorce.
The Abdication Crisis of 1936
By the time Edward became King, he had already decided to marry Wallis Simpson. Despite popular myth, it is not (and was not) illegal for the monarch to marry a divorcee. In fact, according to the royal marriages act of 1772, the monarch is free to marry whomever he or she likes except a Roman Catholic. However, the Prime Minster, Stanley Baldwin said a divorcee could not be named Queen. Thus they came up with the Cornwall Plan, whereby Wallis Simpson would be named the Duchess of Cornwall instead.
Later that year word of the impending marriage leaked the papers. Opinion in the country was sharply divided. However, soon stories began to circulate among the press about Wallis Simpson, most notably that she was a German spy. Despite there being little to no evidence of these claims, the effect was devastating. King Edward decided that he could not, in good faith, lead the country and marry the woman he loved. He chose Wallis Simpson.
On December 11, 1936 King Edward VIII addressed the country and announced his abdication. In June of 1937 he married Wallis Simpson in a ceremony in France. His brother, King George VI forbade any members of the royal family from attending. The couple spent most of the rest of their lives in France and America.
*As an aside, among the early Celtic British and Romano British it was not uncommon for a king to voluntarily relinquish the throne, often before entering a monastery. The Statement is true, however, in terms of the current monarchy at least as far back as William the Conqueror.
Source:
"The Vilification of Wallis Simpson" by Susan Williams in BBC History Magazine, Vol 7, No 12, December 2006
